


Thicker Than Water

by fangirl_squee



Series: homies help homies, always [22]
Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-06
Updated: 2013-05-06
Packaged: 2017-12-10 13:46:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/786715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fangirl_squee/pseuds/fangirl_squee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Grantaire has an accident the first time he attends one of Enjolras' rallies, Marius won't feel calm until he's seen that Grantaire's okay with his own eyes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Thicker Than Water

**Author's Note:**

> The title was sort of inspired by this post about the original meaning of the phrase “blood is thicker than water” - http://vuddha.tumblr.com/post/44481416199/blood-is-thicker-than-water
> 
> This is set after 'Homecoming'.

 

Cosette won’t let Marius drive on the way to the hospital. It’s probably just as well, his hands won’t stop shaking, even though Grantaire is fine ( _Grantaire is fine_ , he repeats it to himself in a mantra, _it’s just a broken wrist, he’s fine, Grantaire is fine_ ). Eponine drives, while Cosette sits in the back next to him.

 

“Combeferre says everyone is accounted for, no arrests,” says Cosette, reading off a text, “Courfeyrac’s picking up the others, and then they’ll meet us there.”

 

 

(Grantaire had been right next to Marius, and then someone had thrown something, and the police had _pushed_ , and the people had _pushed back_ , and it was like a switch had been flipped.

 

“I hope not all of Enjolras’ speeches are going to be like this,” Grantaire had said, grinning.

 

And Marius had laughed, because if Grantaire was here then nothing could really go that wrong.)

 

 

He’s still in surgery when they get there, and Cosette pushes him into a seat and sits next to him. Her hand feels like the only solid thing in the whole room.

 

Eponine leaves and returns with tea. “I talked to the nurse on duty, and she says he’ll be out soon, he’s fine.”

 

“I know he’s fine,” says Marius, “it’s just a dumb broken wrist, of course he’s fine.”

 

Cosette squeezes his hand, and he squeezes back.

 

 

(Grantaire had pushed his way to higher ground, looking around for the others. They’d spotted Enjolras, Cosette, and Courfeyrac quickly, still behind the tiny stage where they’d been giving speeches. It looked like they’d gotten trapped by the crowd, people surging either side of them.

 

“Well,” said Grantaire, “we’d better get them out of there before they get trampled or something.”

 

Marius had followed behind him, dodging elbows and ducking under waving arms.)

 

 

The others arrive together ten minutes later. Courfeyrac is sporting a pretty impressive black eye, and Jehan and Joly are fussing over it as they walk. The others look tired and worried, but otherwise unharmed.

 

“Where is he?” says Enjolras. He runs a hand through his hair (a habit he’d picked up from Grantaire), making it stick out at odd angles.

 

“He’s still in surgery,” Cosette says, when Marius doesn’t answer, “he should be out soon though. The doctor’s going to come and let us know when he’s awake.”

 

Combeferre lets out a breath. “Right. I’ll go get us all some tea or something.”

 

“I’ll show you where it is,” says Eponine.

 

Enjolras starts pacing, running his hands through his hair again.

 

 

(Pushing their way to the front turned out to be much harder than pushing their way to higher ground had been. Earlier he’d overheard Jehan say it looked like the whole city had turned out, and that had seemed like such a good thing then. Marius managed to catch Cosette’s attention once they’d gotten closer.

 

They were almost through the crowd when the police reached the podium, which probably wouldn’t have been a problem if a) they hadn’t used the microphone to tell people to disperse, and b) Enjolras hadn’t leapt towards the stage as soon as he saw them.

 

“That is not your property, that is property of the people!”

 

Grantaire pushed through the last of the crowd in time to grab Enjolras, pulling him back. Unfortunately, several other crowd members seemed to have the same idea as Enjolras, surging forward and making the small stage shudder.

 

One of the officers turned, looking down at Enjolras. “You, in the red!”

 

Grantaire tugged at Marius’ sleeve with one hand. “Get them out of here, I’ll grab Enjolras.”

 

“What?” said Marius “Grantaire –“

 

But Grantaire was already tuning to pull Enjolras away, and Marius turned towards Cosette and Courfeyrac, and then –

 

_CRACK._

 

The tiny stage was giving way.

 

Grantaire _shoved_ Enjolras out of the way and into Marius, falling over and disappearing behind a wall of bodies.)

 

 

“Are you waiting for R Grantaire?”

 

Marius looks up from his hands to the scrub-clad doctor. “Yes,” he says, voice slightly hoarse.

 

“He’s out of surgery now, and everything went fine. It was only a small fracture –“

 

“Where is he?” says Enjolras, clearly trying for commanding, but looking too worried to pull it off properly.

 

“He’s just in recovery, but unfortunately we can’t let anyone through except family, hospital policy I’m afraid. If you wait until a family member gets here we can ask them to allow it, but otherwise you’ll just have to wait here.”

 

“No,” says Marius, and he’s pushing past the doctor before he even fully registers that he’s standing.

 

Marius needs to know that Grantaire is okay, he needs to see he’s okay with his own eyes. If they have to wait for a family member to get here they’ll be waiting at least two days for Claire to come down, and that is two days too long.

 

 

(People screamed and one of the officers fell off the stage, swearing. He couldn’t see Grantaire, and his grip tightened on Cosette’s hand.

 

“He’s okay!” Courfeyrac shouted over the din, “I think he’s broken something though, I’m going to take him to the hospital! You guys take Enjolras!”

 

“Wait, I’ll –“ Marius said.

 

But Cosette was already grabbing Enjolras, pulling them both through the last of the crowd. She pulled them both around the corner, and another, and another, until they reached Combeferre and Eponine.

 

“Grantaire’s been hurt,” said Cosette, “I don’t think it’s serious, but Courf’s taking him to the hospital.”

 

“He’s supposed to be picking up Jehan, Joly, and Bousset,” said Enjolras distractedly, wiping his hands on his jeans.

 

Combeferre grabbed his wrist. “You’re hurt too.”

 

Enjolras looked down at his palms, cut by the pavement. He pulled his hands away, tucking them into his pockets. “I’m _fine_. What are we doing about the others if Courfeyrac is, is,” he swallowed, “busy. Can we get someone else to pick them up?”

 

Combeferre frowned. “We can ask him to get them after he takes care of Grantaire. I don’t think we can pick them up from where we are, not with traffic the way it is right now. If he’s coming from the hospital he’ll be able to go around.”

 

“Okay,” Enjolras ran a hand through his hair, “okay. So he’ll do that and we’ll meet him there. Good.”

 

“Marius?” Cosette squeezed his hand, bringing him out of his daze. “Marius, are you okay?”

 

“I want to go to the hospital now.” Cosette’s eyes went wide, gaze quickly flicking over him, assessing. “Oh, no, I’m okay, I just, Grantaire is there, so I kind of need to go there. Right now. Is that okay?”

 

“That’s fine. You don’t look so great though, so maybe I’ll drive?”

 

“I’ll drive,” said Eponine, “I’d need to get a lift with someone anyway.”

 

Marius nodded, and handed over his keys.)

 

 

It occurs to him after he’s passed by two doors that he doesn’t actually know which room Grantaire is supposed to be in. He keeps going around the corner though, even though he can hear the doctor right behind him, because there is _no way_ he’s going to just sit and wait while Grantaire is alone somewhere in a hospital room.

 

He trips around another corner, and the doctor grabs hold of his wrist. “You’re not supposed to be back here,” he says in a no-nonsense tone, “I told you, it’s family only.”

 

“It’s okay.”

 

It’s Grantaire. He looks tired, and frankly a little ridiculous in the paper hospital gown, but he’s _there_ and he’s _fine_. He’s smiling at Marius, and Marius feels himself smile in return, relief flooding him.

 

“It’s okay, really,” Grantaire repeats, smiling up at the doctor, “he’s my brother.”

 

“You’re brother,” says the doctor sceptically.

 

“Yes,” says Grantaire, “he’s also my emergency contact, if that help you get around the whole ‘family only’ thing.”

 

The doctor looks at both of them for a moment, frowning slightly. “You have fifteen minutes left of visiting hours.”

 

He turns, going back the way he came, leaving Marius with Grantaire and a nurse. They wheel Grantaire around another corner, to Grantaire’s room. Marius helps the nurse get Grantaire into bed.

 

“So,” says Marius, after she leaves, “I’m your brother?”

 

Grantaire smiles at him, head heavy on the pillow. “Pretty much.”

 

“Cool,” says Marius, smiling back at him, “I’ve always wanted a brother.”

 

Grantaire’s asleep by the time visiting hours are over. Marius draws a stick figure of Grantaire snoring on part of the cast, along with the time he’ll be back tomorrow.

 

That’s what little brothers are for, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> feedback is always loved: fangirl-squee.tumblr.com/ask


End file.
